The purpose of the programme is to study the relations between the Byzantine world and the peoples of Western Europe, especially after the decisive year 1204 and the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade; a period during which Latin lords and Italian city-states established long-lasting states in the former lands of the Byzantine Empire. The programme's research activity aims to contribute to the in-depth understanding of the multilateral relations between the two oblique-facing worlds of medieval Europe (wars, diplomatic, economic, cultural relations, the establishment of the Latins in the Greek lands and that of Greeks in Western Europe).

The ongoing research activity of the programme focuses on the study of the history of the Latin dominions in the Greek territories from the 13th to the 17th century.

The main objectives of the programme are:

To conduct research in archives and libraries in Greece and abroad.

To publish historical sources

To disseminate the research results by way of research projects, scientific publications, conferences, lectures and seminars

History

The programme "Byzantium and the West" was conceived by now Research Director Emeritus N.G. Moschonas and began to take form in 1996.

The research conducted by members and collaborators of the programme so far has borne 16 volumes (see publications), numerous articles and papers in international congresses.

The programme members have also successfully organised 5 international congresses and 4 lecture series for the Special Educational Events "Society of Science".

International Academic Symposium: «Το δουκάτο του Αιγαίου» ["The Duchy of the Aegean"], Naxos, July 2007 – Athens, November 2007 (in collaboration with the Centre of Research of the Greek Society of the Academy of Athens and the cultural organisation «Αιών» of Naxos).

Prosopography provides us with a fund of predigested historical data in a permanent state of deconstruction; it is a powerful analytical tool which literally reduces history to atoms, for a πρόσωπον is an άτομον, the indivisible unit of human existence. A catalogue of all recorded historical persons is therefore as close as we can come to creating a complete, fully articulated and objective record of the past.
[Paul Magdalino, Prosopography and Byzantine identity, Fifty years of Prosopography. The Later Roman Empire, Byzantium and beyond, ed. Averil Cameron, Oxford University Press 2003, 46.]

The research project "Prosopography of the Greco-Venetian East. 13th-16th centuries" aims at creating an Open Access Database with information about all persons found in Latin, Italian and Greek archival sources concerning the Venetian colonies in the Greek territories (Crete, Methone and Korone, Euboea, Kythera). The project aspires to lay the foundations for a scientifically grounded database, which will be constantly fed with new information by the members of the programme and, at a later date, by external collaborators conducting research on the subject.

Prosopography constitutes an important field of contemporary historical research, which is why the "Prosopography of the Greco-Venetian East" intends to become an essential link in the chain of prosopographical projects dealing with the Byzantine Empire and Venice, some of which are already completed, others are ongoing or still being planned [Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (250-641), Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire (PBΕ) (641-867), Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit. Abteilung II: 867-1025 (in preparation), Prosopography of the Byzantine World (PBW) (1025-1150), «Prosopography of the Latin Empire of Constantinople» (1204-1261) (in preparation), Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit (1261-1453), The Rulers of Venice. 1332-1524. Database, The Medieval and Renaissance Italy Prosopographical Database: Venice, ]. Τhe designing of the database has began and collection of prosopographical data for 13th and 14th century Crete is underway as part of a pilot project.

The aim of this research project is to construct a long-term commodity price index for Crete during the late middle ages and the early modern period (13th-16th c.). More specifically, the investigation will centre on defining a 'representative basket of consumables' which will allow for comparisons across time. The price of the composite unit of consumables (cuc) related to specific nominal wage-rates will be used for calculating the consumer price index and for measuring the cost-of-living in order to reveal changes in real wages and standards of living throughout the period under investigation.

The aims and objectives of the project are beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of research practice. The interdisciplinary nature of the project involves the combining of three academic disciplines: history, statistics and information technology. Funding opportunities are being sought in order to allow for the collaboration with the external partners and the scientific institutions that have agreed to join forces in the investigation and for the realization of the project in its full extent. In the meantime the collection of the relevant research literature and price-wage data is already underway.

The aim of this project is to publish the surviving Cadastres of Cretan fiefs (Catastici Feudorum) dating from the first three centuries of the Venetian rule on the island. These are four files preserved in the Duca di Candia series of the State Archive of Venice (Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Duca di Candia, b. 18, 19, 20, 21), which contain whole or parts of the Cadastres of the area comprising the modern-day prefecture of Herakleion, as well as part of the Cadastre of Chania. The Cadastres were used by the Venetian government to monitor feudal land tenure on the island, since the state retained the direct ownership. Each entry in the Cadastres concerns an individual fief including all its components and owners from the early thirteenth to the middle fifteenth century. This very important source highlights not only the Venetian landowning system, but also various aspects of the social and economic life of medieval Crete. Two of the four files have already been published (see below publications no. 5 and 6) and the edition of the remaining two is in preparation. At the same time an Open Access Database containing all the information of the Cadastres, and especially the rich prosopographical and topographical material, is under preparation.

2. "Acts written by Johannes Semergo, notary in Candia-Gergeri (1559-1560)".
Angeliki Panopoulou. Edition and commentary of the text.

3. "Τhe Commission of the Duke of Crete Leone Duodo (1459)".
Marina Koumanoudi.
Edition and commentary of the text.

4. "The Reports of the Venetian officials of Crete. A. The officials of the territory of Chania (16th-17th centuries)". Kostas Tsiknakis.
Edition and commentary of the text.

5. "Archival documents and literary sources of 16th and 17th centuries". Antonis Pardos.
Edition and commentary of: an unpublished 17th century Italian text, the dispatches of Ottoman Governors to Venetian Provveditori in Greek language, a 16th century Report of a high-ranking Venetian official, a 16th century translation of the Marcus Mussurus' elegaic Hymn to Platon.

6. «Κύρτου Πλέγματα. Networks of economy, power and knowledge in the Greek territories from the prehistoric times to the modern era: documentation - mapping - synthetic approaches».

Research Programme of the Institute, individual or collaborative research projects of the members of the programme "Byzantium and the West":

"Rural networks for the production and the transport of products in the Peloponnese during the Byzantine period" - Ilias Anagnostakis, Anastasia Yangaki, Voula Konti, Anna Lambropoulou, Maria Leontsini, Angeliki Panopoulou.

"Itineraries and routes of pirates and corsaires in 16th and 17th centuries" - Antonis Pardos.

7. "Dictionary of Paleographic and Diplomatic Terminology". Nikos G. Moschonas.
The Research project was planned and materialized by Emeritus Research Director N. G. Moschonas and the late Director of the Royal Holloway Hellenic Institute (University of London) Julian Chrysostomides in collaboration with Dr Ch. Dendrinos. The project is currently under way and, following the passing of Julian Chrysostomides, coordinated by N. G. Moschonas and Ch. Dendrinos, Lecturer in Byzantine Literature and Greek Palaeography at the Department of History of the Royal Holloway, University of London. Young researchers in Athens and London collaborate in the project.

8. Monographs in preparation:
"The embassies of Venetian-ruled Greek territories during the fifteenth century". Marina Koumanoudi
"Pirates and Corsaires in the 17th century Greek Seas". Antonis Pardos

C. HISTORICAL SCIENCES SEMINAR

The "Historical Sciences Seminar" offered every academic year since 1987 is addressed to graduate and postgraduate students, as well as to the general public, who wish to acquire the necessary special skills for historical research. The following courses are available: Theory and Methodology of History, Archival Science, Latin Paleography, Epigraphic Studies, Papyrology, Codicology, Numismatics, Sigillography, Diplomatics, Chronological Systems, Byzantine Ceramic, Introduction to Cartography, Heraldry, Ancient Greek Religion, Greek Mythology Geography, Byzantine Texts, Medieval History Archival Sources, Approaching the Western Middle Ages, Architectural Archives, Modern-Greek Enlightenment. The courses are taught by IHR researchers, academics and other specialists. The activities of the Seminar up to 2007 are recorded in a 20th anniversary volume. See Φροντιστήριο Ιστορικών Επιστημών. Απολογισμός εικοσαετίας 1987-2007 [Historical Sciences' Seminar. 1987-2007, 20 year Report], Athens 2008 (in Greek).

«Damned in Hell in the frescoes of Venetian Crete. 13th – 17th centuries» (The Open University, UK). (http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=19327). Principal Investigators: Angeliki Lymberopoulou (The Open University, UK) and Vasiliki Tsamakda (University of Mainz, Germany). Charalambos Gasparis: member of the research team.

"Residential Network in Crete. Land and societies, 13th-20th centuries". Principal investigator: Nikos Skoutelis, Department of Architecture, Τechnical University of Crete. Charalambos Gasparis: Historical Consultant for the research project.

International research programme in marine history "Oceanides". Supervisor Professor Emeritus of the University of Paris-I Pantheon-Sorbonne Michel Balard. Angeliki Panopoulou: personal project: "The maritime life of Crete in the Middle Ages until 16th c.".

Postgraduate Seminar "The Greek-Latin World. 13th-18th centuries". Collaborators: Department of History and Archaeology/University of Athens, Institute of Historical Research/NHRF/Department of Byzantine Studies/Research Programme "Byzantium and the West", Research Centre for Medieval and Modern Hellenism/Academy of Athens.

"Lectures Series for the Medieval History of the Mediterranean". Nafpaktos. Annual lectures series held by the Municipality of Nafpaktos in collaboration with the Research Project "Byzantium and the West" (Institute of Historical Research/Department of Byzantine Studies) and the Centre for Ionian Studies.

Databases

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE CITY OF ATHENS
"The Athenian past is present in every corner of the basin. Apart from the illustrious monuments of antiquity, the elegant Byzantine churches and the neoclassic edifices combined in harmony with the natural environment constitute the link between the past the present. The presence of the past is continuous in modern Athens and the evidence of historical continuity is rich. The urban web of the city is still based on the ancient one; modern-day roads and highways were built on ancient ones or follow their axes. What is most impressive is the continuity in the use of the urban area. And it is exactly the historical duration and continuity of the Athenian landscape that both residents and sojourners should know and experience".
Nikos G. Moschonas, Emeritus Research Director of the Institute of Historical Research